I've always made sure my kids were bored. When they get too into one thing and narrow their interests, I know it's time for some time to figure things out on their own.
oh, this is the greatest thing! we have only the one kid, so showing her that alone-time is a wonderful thing was a big priority. i think we started when she was about 2 - and it was quite difficult at first, she was very resistant.
however... she now will
choose to hang out alone and sometimes it's actually quite hard to pull her out of her room when she's really got going on something. i'm not really sure what she was doing in the early years - probably colouring or mazes, but lately (she's now 5) she's been making these unbelievable structures out of paper & tape (Hogwarts castle and a model of ex vivo lungs, complete with balloons you can inflate with a pair of straws). it's the coolest stuff and it gets more sophisticated and detailed every day.
so, like MoN... we are all in favour of boredom around here!
